Getting a Port
In March of 2011, at age 29, I had been having abnormal IgG levels. I frequently would ask my doctor about it. I didn’t know too much about what it meant, but from what I had read in transplant groups online, people with a certain level often needed something called immunoglobulin therapy or IVIG. When I was in the hospital one time for an infection, another doctor noted my levels and suggested I do IVIG and told me to ask my doctor about it. I told my doctor and he said that we should go forward and do the treatment. I had been asking my doctor probably since I got my lung transplant, if I could get a port placed. He told me his reasons as to why he didn’t think it would be a good idea. I remember one of the reasons was that it could get infected. I had had so many IVs, midlines, and PICC lines over the years that my veins were very scarred. I had, for a long time, gotten midlines placed at home until the scar tissue became so prolific that I had to start going to a vein center and have a PICC line placed under fluoroscopy. Even though they had images of my veins, when they would thread the tubing, it would bounce off of scar tissue and branches in my veins, and hit nerves. It was such a disgusting, nausea-inducing, process as I wasn’t even mildly sedated for the procedure. To do the IVIG, my doctor said I should get a port. I couldn’t believe it! I was elated. After I had my port placed, my doctor changed his mind about doing IVIG therapy. He said it wasn’t really necessary. I didn’t really care, because I had my port. I love my port and it has served me so well. My port was a double lumen, and some years after it was placed, the bottom access developed a hole in its tubing near my neck. I can only use the top access now, but that has been all that I’ve needed in recent years. My infusion nurse comes once a month to flush my port. I still have the same nurse that I had from a few years before my double lung transplant. I am quite lucky for that, as she is amazing!
Up until this point I had also had various bacterial, viral, and fungal lung infections. These were treated with IVs in or out of the hospital; and oral and inhaled medications. Some of these infections included, MRSA, aspergillus, parainfluenza, human metapneumovirus, rhino virus, adenovirus, corona virus, and several others. Thankfully, after having a transplant, aspergillus could be treated and eradicated with just a 6-month course of an oral antifungal called Posaconazole.
(One of my last IV's, running out of healthy veins.)
(Pointing to the port)
(Using port)
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